Bristol Zoo

31 July 2001

The first sight to greet us as we entered the gardens was a flock of flamingos

Apparently, they take their pinkish hue from their diet of red shellfish

We were lucky that the rare Asian lion posed so nicely

Other mammals included small red pandas, a pygmy hippo and plenty of monkeys

A mock kitchen and grain store showed off the rats and mice

The okapi rather turned his back on us

There were dimly lit displays of snakes, bats and beetles

Jay plucked up courage to look at the spiders at the second time of asking

A Seychelles giant tortoise roamed freely in the garden, other reptiles were confined in the reptile house, including a dwarf crocodile

This lizard came to have a look at us

Teresa and Jay enjoy a hippopotamus ride (not real) and take a break to plan the rest of the day

The big disappointments were the absence of any gorillas on Gorilla Island – were they sleeping all day?

And Wendy, the old Indian elephant, was somewhat elusive

On our third visit, we found she had come out for a brief shower

But we failed to get close enough for a good picture

In the aquarium and in the seal and penguin enclosure, there are many underwater vantage points

A sword-billed predator

Penguins are comical on land, but sleek under water

A couple of fur seals await feeding time

Cooling down at the end of the day